ARC Review: Fable (Fable #1) by Adrienne Young

Rating: 5/5 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Pub Date: 01 Sep 2020

Review:

One fateful night leaves Fable without a mother and abandoned on an island where she has to fend for herself until the day she finds passage off it with the help of a young trader, West. And so begins the start of unlikely alliances as they strive to navigate peril and keep their head above water.

Fable’s story, how she had to strive to live, to survive, broke my heart. I felt so much pain for this young girl, left to fend alone, having to stay on guard all the time. I wanted to hug her and make her life better. Give her food, shelter, protect her. The author wove such a heartbreaking character with a core of steel that you couldn’t help but feel for her.

As for West? He was an enigma, layers and layers of complications and secrets. I wanted to know everything about him, and finding those answers, getting to know him better – drew me in deeper. The ending chapters? Oh, I tipped over the edge and fell for him.

The side-characters, the crew of the Marigold—each one with their unique voices, charmed and endeared me to their plights. As secrets are revealed and pacts made, this story grabs you and hooks you in to the last page.

The world-building and descriptions were excellent. The author’s writing was a pleasure to read and the cliffhanger left me in high anticipation for more. This was my first book by Adrienne Young, and I have to say she completely won me over. I cannot wait to read the next book.

*Thanks to the publisher, St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.⁣

Synopsis: As the daughter of the most powerful trader in the Narrows, the sea is the only home seventeen-year-old Fable has ever known. It’s been four years since the night she watched her mother drown during an unforgiving storm. The next day her father abandoned her on a legendary island filled with thieves and little food. To survive she must keep to herself, learn to trust no one and rely on the unique skills her mother taught her. The only thing that keeps her going is the goal of getting off the island, finding her father and demanding her rightful place beside him and his crew. To do so Fable enlists the help of a young trader named West to get her off the island and across the Narrows to her father. But her father’s rivalries and the dangers of his trading enterprise have only multiplied since she last saw him and Fable soon finds that West isn’t who he seems. Together, they will have to survive more than the treacherous storms that haunt the Narrows if they’re going to stay alive. Welcome to a world made dangerous by the sea and by those who wish to profit from it. Where a young girl must find her place and her family while trying to survive in a world built for men.

New Book Releases – 04 Aug 2020

Hola, Book Dragons! Do you have any anticipated releases today? I got one.

The Morning Flower (The Omte Origins #2) – Amanda Hocking

Synopsis:
New York Times bestselling author Amanda Hocking returns to the magical world of the Trylle with The Morning Flower, the second book in the Omte Origins arc.

Nestled along the bluffs of the forested coast lays the secret kingdom of the Omte—a realm filled with wonder… and as many secrets.

When Ulla Tulin took her internship at the Mimirin, the only mystery she thought she’d have to solve was that of her birth parents. After a girl named Eliana gets kidnapped while in her care, Ulla knows she has to find out the truth of who Eliana really is—and the only way to do that means traveling to the Omte capital, the place she suspects her mother is from.

Ulla didn’t expect that when she arrived she would discover the identity of a Skojare man who crossed paths with her mother—a man who could very well be her father. When the head of the Mimirin learns Ulla’s father is connected to the Älvolk, a secret society who believes they were tasked with protecting the First City and the only ones who know its location, he sends Ulla and Pan to Sweden where they find him living among the Älvolk. But all is not what it seems with the Älvolk and their urgent quest to find the Lost Bridge to the First City leaves Ulla feeling uneasy—and possibly in danger.

What about you guys? Is this book on your TBR?

∼Lyn

TYCR – 13 June 2020 – Switched (Trylle #1) by Amanda Hocking

Hola, Book Dragons, how are you? Whatcha reading? I started the first book in the Trylle series by Amanda Hocking – Switched.

Do you have a NetGalley account? If you do, you know how some books are “Wish For It” only. I have no idea why that is. Do you? Well, for the first time ever, a publisher granted one of my wished books – The Morning Flower (The Omte Origins, From the World of the Trylle) by Amanda Hocking. So of course, I have to read the Trylle series before I start on this new series. 🙂

Switched (Trylle #1) – Amanda Hocking

TYCR – 13 June 2020 – This Eternity of Masks and Shadows – Karsten Knight

Hola, Book Dragons, how are you? Whatcha reading? I have to say I really love this blog meme I created. (Can you see the modesty? 😉 ) It’s so perfect for when I don’t have inspiration for a blog post and it allows me to publicize books a lot more.

This Eternity of Masks and Shadows – Karsten Knight

Synopsis:
In a city of gods and mortals, secrets never die.

The gods walk among us. Some lurk in the shadows, masquerading as mortals; others embrace their celebrity status, launching careers from Hollywood to Capitol Hill.

One of them just murdered Cairn Delacroix’s mother.

As Cairn sifts through the rubble, she uncovers a conspiracy two decades in the making: a cursed island, the fellowship of gods who journeyed there, and the unspeakable act that intertwined their fates. One by one, the members of that voyage are dying, and Cairn’s investigations land her in the crosshairs of the rogue goddess responsible.

With the help of Nanook, a polar bear god turned detective, Cairn descends into Boston’s underworld of supernatural crime and political aspiration. To avenge her mother and unmask her assassin, she’ll first have to reckon with a gut-wrenching secret that will rewrite the life she thought she knew.

Blog Tour – Dark Skies (Dark Shores #2) – Danielle L. Jensen

Hola, Book Dragons! I’m excited to be participating in the blog tour for Dark Skies, the second book in the Dark Shores series by Danielle L. Jensen. 

A big thanks to FFBC Tours for allowing me to participate in the blog tour and kudos for all the meticulous, hard work.

TYCR – 02 May 2020 – Dark Shores (Dark Shores #1) – Danielle L. Jensen

Hola, Book Dragons, it’s Saturday night! Are you out being crazy, hitting dance clubs? 😱😱😱 No, you’re being responsible citizens and staying at home, right? Definitely. Cozy in bed, reading, I hope? 😉 Stay safe! 🙂

I’m currently reading Dark Shores (Dark Shores #1) by Danielle L. Jensen. I got the second book from Netgalley, Dark Skies, which comes out on 05 May 2020 and I’m also on the blog tour. How cool is that? And man, both books have gorgeous covers! 😍😍😍

New Book Releases – 28 April 2020

Hola, Book Dragons! I got this book on Netgalley and it looks really good. Is the cover amazing or what? I’m still reading the ARC and let me tell you, it’s an intriguing story.

Happy Book Birthday to:

Incendiary (Hollow Crown #1) – Zoraida Córdova

Synopsis:

I am Renata Convida.
I have lived a hundred stolen lives.
Now I live my own.

Renata Convida was only a child when she was kidnapped by the King’s Justice and brought to the luxurious palace of Andalucia. As a Robari, the rarest and most feared of the magical Moria, Renata’s ability to steal memories from royal enemies enabled the King’s Wrath, a siege that resulted in the deaths of thousands of her own people.

Now Renata is one of the Whispers, rebel spies working against the crown and helping the remaining Moria escape the kingdom bent on their destruction. The Whispers may have rescued Renata from the palace years ago, but she cannot escape their mistrust and hatred–or the overpowering memories of the hundreds of souls she turned “hollow” during her time in the palace.

When Dez, the commander of her unit, is taken captive by the notorious Sangrado Prince, Renata will do anything to save the boy whose love makes her place among the Whispers bearable. But a disastrous rescue attempt means Renata must return to the palace under cover and complete Dez’s top secret mission. Can Renata convince her former captors that she remains loyal, even as she burns for vengeance against the brutal, enigmatic prince? Her life and the fate of the Moria depend on it.

But returning to the palace stirs childhood memories long locked away. As Renata grows more deeply embedded in the politics of the royal court, she uncovers a secret in her past that could change the entire fate of the kingdom–and end the war that has cost her everything.

What about you guys? Is this book on your TBR?

∼Lyn

Book Review: The Ten Thousand Doors of January – Alix E. Harrow

Rating: 5/5 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Review:

How do you express the extent to which a book amazed you? How do you put it into words? A review seems like too small a thing to show the magnitude to which a story caught at your heart and soul and held it.

This book is set in the early 1900s—the story of a young girl named January Scaller, from her childhood to her teen years. She lives in the mansion of a wealthy man called Mr. Locke as his ward while her father gallivants the world in his employ, searching for unique objects to showcase in his house. Growing up, she’s a precocious little girl who wants to go on adventures like her father. The day she finds her first Door and tells the truth about it, that’s when her life changes forever.

Book Review: King of Scars (Nikolai Duology, #1) – Leigh Bardugo

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Review:

I tried not to have a lot of expectations when I started this long-anticipated book. Back to the Grisha world – Nikolai’s story at last. From the first chapter, I was taken in by Nikolai and his troubles. A king fighting to save his people, from poverty, from enemy countries. Fighting to find ways to make Ravka persevere, especially after the destruction the Darkling caused to it.

Book Review: Vicious (Villains #1) – V.E. Schwab

Rating: 3/5 Stars🌟🌟🌟

Genre: Fantasy, Science Fiction

Review:

I have to admit I went into this book with a load of expectations especially since V.E. Schwab/Victoria Schwab has fast become one of my favorite authors. I had heard so much about Vicious and I finally got around to reading it. Sadly, it wasn’t as epic as I’d expected a book about villains to be.